As the recession begins to fade away, fashion retailers, diamond jewelry brands and luxury stocks are beginning to perform again. Consumers in the US have more disposable income, unemployment is decreasing and equity markets are thriving. However, the next frontier for many luxury jewelry companies may lie overseas. Emerging Asian markets have an ever increasing consumer middle class, and with more people than any other country, China yields the most promising future for luxury brands.
Millions of people are moving from rural areas to the cities as the economy sophisticates to find better jobs and gain purchasing power. Spending on fashionable clothes and purchasing status symbols such as jade and diamonds will increase as this consumer middle class continues to grow. Besides gauging the taste of the Asian market there are other obstacles that companies need to overcome such as the government’s efforts to crackdown on luxury spending and excess lifestyles. Yet so far this has not stopped luxury jewelry brands from trying to enter the Chinese market.
